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 | | From: | VCDL President | | Subject: | VA-ALERT: Legislative Alert! 1/23/05 | | Date: | Mon, 24 Jan 2005 05:54:35 +0000 (UTC) |
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Delegate Cole's HB 1915, put in at VCDL's request, is now on its way
to the Floor of the House. HB 1915 clarifies and exempts permit
holders from the confusing law (18.2-287.4) which forbids carrying
loaded firearms that have a magazine that holds over 20 rounds in
them while in public places. You need to contact your Delegate and
ask the Delegate to support the bill.
Click here to send a message to your Delegate:
http://www2.vcdl.org/cgi-bin/wspd_cgi.sh/vcdl/reflector.html?REF=MyDelegate&PRE=HB1915-2
Notes: Since this is going to YOUR Delegate, if you happen to know
his or her name, fill that in after the "Dear Delegate" line at the
top.
ALSO, the legislative tool has been improved again. It no longer
requires a rigid format for your address. However, you will have to
reenter your street address one more time and then it will be
remembered for future email messages.
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The Richmond Times Dispatch has an article today on Marsh's bill to
require private-sales at gun shows to be registered. What appears to
be a 'push-poll' by the other side, 9 out of 10 Richmonders
supposedly want the law changed! (A push-poll is one designed to
give you the result that you want to get - a common trick of the
anti-gunners).
Baloney.
Here's the problem right now - about 1,000 of you have contacted your
Senator on this bill - about 25 of you for each Senator. That is
good, but that also means that 2,500 have not done so yet! If you
HAVE NOT yet contacted your Senator on SB807, please do this ASAP -
we don't want that monstrosity to get out of the Senate. The press
is pushing for this bill to pass, so we must push even harder to make
sure it dies a most deserved death.
Here is the link to send a message to your Senator on SB807:
http://www2.vcdl.org/cgi-bin/wspd_cgi.sh/vcdl/reflector.html?REF=MySenator&PRE=SB807-2
Again, if you know your Senator's name, fill that in on the first line.
Here is the article:
http://timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031780402141
Closing gun-show loophole backed
Poll finds most in region support bill requiring background checks
BY JIM NOLAN
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Sunday, January 23, 2005
Nine out of 10 Richmond-area residents support a proposed law that
would close the so-called "gun-show loophole," a newly released
crime-and-safety survey shows.
The loophole allows unlicensed gun dealers to sell firearms at
Virginia gun shows without making background checks of purchasers.
The survey also shows that residents in the region overwhelmingly
rank crime as the biggest threat to their quality of life and that
most believe the crime rate is tied to the availability of guns.
Voters are also willing to support stricter gun-control legislation
and hold elected officials accountable on the issue.
The Richmond-based Southeastern Institute for Research conducted the
survey, which relied upon phone interviews last October of 800
registered voters in Richmond and in Chesterfield, Hanover and
Henrico counties.
It was commissioned by Richmond Renaissance and the Greater Richmond
Partnership Inc., two civic groups working in partnership with
surrounding governments to foster investment and economic development
in the region.
"It was my outrage at reading in the newspaper almost every morning
that another one of our fellow citizens have been shot," said
investment banker and civic leader S. Buford Scott, a member of
Richmond Renaissance who advocated the study.
The results were released by the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce.
"The study confirms most of what we already suspected," said Jim
Dunn, the chamber's president. "People are genuinely worried about
the level of crime in the region and they want solutions."
The study comes at a critical time in the current state legislative
session, as officials are debating bills that could change Virginia
gun-control law to close the gun-show loophole.
State Sen. Henry L. Marsh III, D-Richmond, is sponsoring a bill to
close the loophole. Last week, it narrowly passed the Courts of
Justice committee by an 8-7 vote. It will go to the Senate floor
tomorrow.
Included in the study is a question taken from a separate statewide
survey, the Virginia Pulse Omnibus Survey conducted in December,
which takes aim at legislators outside the Richmond area who might
not feel the need to support Marsh's measure.
According to the survey, of 1,023 voters polled in Virginia, 84
percent support passing a law that would require a background check
for all gun purchases, even those at gun shows.
Currently, state law requires all licensed gun retailers to do
purchaser background checks, whether selling weapons at their stores
or at gun shows. But unlicensed dealers at gun shows, such as gun
collectors and private sellers, are not required to do background
checks on gun buyers.
Critics of the loophole say the exemption makes it easier for felons
and others prohibited from owning guns to shop for weapons, and
ultimately leads to more crime and violence.
Scott called the Marsh bill "an important and quite achievable first
step" that is "going to take a lot of work.
Beyond its potential impact on the legislative agenda, the survey
gives a glimpse of the Richmond region and its relationship with
firearms.
According to the survey:
* Roughly two out of five households in the Richmond area own a gun.
* One in six respondents has either used a gun in self-defense or
knows someone who has used a gun in self-defense.
* Nearly six of every 10 respondents favor the right to carry a gun.
The survey also attempts to link the perceived impact of crime on the
quality of life in the Richmond area -- two factors directly linked
to the health of the city and the viability of the region to attract
businesses and residents.
While more than three quarters of respondents (76 percent) rate the
quality of life as good, 60 percent of respondents said crime is the
biggest threat to their quality of life, and more than half (54
percent) think crime has increased in the region over the past year.
Nearly half (48 percent) said they shop or dine in downtown Richmond
less than they used to, and 45 percent said they make fewer trips
into the city to attend cultural events. Roughly half of the survey
respondents say crime is the main reason they no longer do such
things.
The survey says nearly six out of 10 people (58 percent) in the
Richmond area believe increased control of gun sales would help
reduce crime. And 79 percent said support of such legislation would
be a factor considered in voting for candidates on Election Day.
But not all the survey results imply that people will be happier, or
safer, if Marsh's bill becomes law.
Nearly half the people surveyed (45 percent) don't think gun-control
legislation will have any impact on their quality of life. And
one-third think it will have no impact at all on reducing crime.
***************************************************************************
VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. (VCDL).
VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization dedicated to
defending the human rights of all Virginians. The membership considers the
Right to Keep and Bear Arms to be an essential human right.
VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org
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